Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see May lease deals!
Options
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
Have they learned how to actually fix vehicles brought for maintenance?
(Dodge didn't have a clue on that, but was good at charging anyway!)
Wisconsin dealers at their worst are better than the Seattle dealers I dealt with... good luck anyway (and we have a real good dealer/Ford service shop in Reedsburg, WI, though it's not the closest to where I live.)
More to the point, I had my order for a green 09 FEH Limited 4WD placed on 6/30 or so. No VIN yet, but the order is in and accepted. Now in the waiting game...
I went to my dealer Saturday and watched him log into the CONCEPS ordering system, pull up my order and show it to me. The top part of the screen shows the Order Type (1=Retail), Priority (mine happens to be 12, which is where the "ordering guy" at this dealer starts numbering type 1 orders) and when the status was last checked/updated (07/10 in my case). The bottom of the screen shows the "event history" of the order. Mine has a single line dated 4/21 showing when the order was accepted into the Unscheduled Order Bank (USOB).
The ordering guy came over and said they are working to convince Ford to schedule my order to be built, but they are having trouble getting allocation. As soon as they do, since my order has the highest assigned priority number at this particular dealer, barring any "commodity issues", it will be scheduled first before the only other FEH order this dealer has taken.
Bottom line: Nothing is going to happen to move an order out of the USOB until the dealer gets an allocation slot to use to fulfill that order.
Just wanted to post an update.
FEH - Limited - X-Plan. Initial Delivery date 7/10/08. Sonoma County California.
Have VIN / PIN/ Contract and production date.
I'd like to thank all for their detailed analysis.
Checked with the dealer today. Has not arrived but "expected" delivery this coming week.
I hope I'm not the first one to receive!
I'll let you all know.
Regards,
Receipt Date: 5/9/2008
Serialize Date: 5/22/2008
Segment Date: 5/22/2008
Sequence Date: 6/9/2008
Blend Date: 6/13/2008
Produced Date: 6/23/2008
Gate Release Date:
Ship Date:
Arrival Date:
Sold Date:
As far as pricing, I ordered mine through the Z Plan and the price was $27811.34. Thanks to another post, I also found out that the Priority Number I had was 11 - just one off of the highest. This is from a dealer in Central NJ.
Ordered a FEH Limited 2wd with EVERYTHING. A-plan prize around $30,000 even.
Location is Detroit, MI.. Will post when I receive it. Good luck to all, this forum has been very helpful.
Hxciter
How can a buyer tell if a dealer has an allocation? My dealer says he does but I put my order in the day after you and have the same status as you. From this site and others it appears that people that put their orders in weeks after us are about to receive their FEH. Why would a dealer NOT have an allocation?
thanks
I will keep you filled in.
Hx
All this adds up to one thing: no allocation to order my vehicle and the only other FEH in this particular dealer's USOB.
From where I'm sitting, I figure one of two things has to happen before my vehicle can get an allocation slot:
The owner of the dealership bends over, grabs the ankles, and screams "Thank you sir [Ford HQ], may have another [Expedition]", possibly trying to add a "premium" to the MSRP of the FEH in order to recoop his expected loss on the two Expeditions.
Ford HQ "blinks first" during this game of "allocation chicken" with the dealer and decides they need to book the revenue from a sale of a FEH that's been sitting in the USOB since April 21, worse than they need to get rid of Expeditions.
When I spoke to my salesman and the inventory guy this past Saturday, they assured me they were doing everything they could to get my vehicle built but still didn't have any allocation "slots".
In lieu of all the other folks who ordered 3-6 weeks after I did that have, as a minimum a VIN and in some cases, actual production dates, I find it hard to believe I'm being told the full story. Throw in the fact that this is the first Ford I have ever tried to buy and you can see why Ford is blowing their "you never get a second chance to make a first impression" opportunity.
I'm not new to custom car ordering. I've ordered the following cars since I began driving in 1970:
1978 Chevrolet Chevette
1983 Renault Alliance
1986 Chrysler LeBaron Turbo (mid-life crisis car)
1992 Saturn SL2
1993 Saturn SL2
1997 Saturn SL2
2000 Saturn LS2
Except for when UAW went on strike for a few months shortly after I ordered the '86 LeBaron in late 1985, I've never experienced the kind of delays and lack of believable information that I'm experiencing with the ordering of my fully loaded 2009 FEH Limited (U59/750A/WS+60N+187).
It's one thing to have material availability, vacations, annual plant shutdowns affect the scheduling of production. I'm OK with that. But to have the "allocation game" be responsible for the nearly 3-month delay just seems like somebody isn't being completely open/honest about what's really going on behind the scenes.
Considering that production just started on June 23rd of the FEH - I am choosing to start my "waiting clock" then - not from the date I placed my order, (beginning of May).
Serialize Date: 5/22/2008
Segment Date: 5/22/2008
Sequence Date: 6/9/2008
Blend Date: 6/13/2008
Produced Date: 6/23/2008
Gate Release Date: 6/25/08
Ship Date: 6/25/08
Arrival Date:
Sold Date:
The blueovalforum.com poster said there was a weather related delay in shipping. Called my dealer and he said it should have been here (NJ). Hopefully it didn't get flooded in the Midwest rains!!
Receipt Date:
Serialize Date:
Segment Date:
Sequence Date:
Blend Date:
Produced Date:
Gate Release Date:
Ship Date
In my case, all I have is the first date, 4/21/2008. Check the next message in this thread and compare my experience to his, especially given how far after my order his was processed:
Receipt Date: 5/9/2008
Serialize Date: 5/22/2008
Segment Date: 5/22/2008
Sequence Date: 6/9/2008
Blend Date: 6/13/2008
Produced Date: 6/23/2008
Gate Release Date: 6/25/08
Ship Date: 6/25/08
I smell a rat. A BIG SMELLY RAT!
Once again - does anyone have any other updates or has anyone received their vehicle. From what my dealer said - the train first headed east to make a drop and is now headed West. Some must be somewhere now!!!
Thanks!
Does anyone have any other information regarding the Nav System?
When I called my sales guy this morning, because I know the Thursday evening order selection should be finished and the lucky "selectees" will have their orders changed to the next phase, including a VIN, he said that, as of Juy 16, my order is still CLEAN/UNSCHED.
Something very fishy is going on at Ford HQ in terms of how they choose vehicles to schedule. Like you, I wonder when they'll decide they need the revenue from our respective sales badly enough to schedule our vehicles to be built. Talk about being stupid when it comes to the Time Value of Money theory, Ford seems to have gotten an F- in that particular Finance course. Or, maybe Ford is so awash in cash they don't need a extra 30+ large each from a couple of small fry folks like us?
Keep in mind that the plant closes for annual vacation between July 28 and August 10, so even if your vechicle got scheduled today, I wonder if your vehicle would be built prior to August 11, the day the new third shift begins working.
I've opened a line of inquiry directly with Ford HQ (went to ford.com and found the contact us page) asking basically the same WTF question you're asking about the scheduling of my vehicle. So far, all they've done is ask for more information.
I'll post any change as soon as I hear.
Did I mention this is the first Ford I've ever tried to custom order? Heck, until May 8 when my wife bought a 2008 Ford Focus off the lot of the same dealer, neither my wife nor I have ever purchased a Ford vehicle. Not exactly what I was expecting as a first time customer with a custom order.
I'm going over to the dealer today to see what the status is because the salesman claims the status isn't always updated by Friday, so it sometimes pays to wait until Saturday to check the status.
Our respective "experiences" are proof of one thing: the ordering process needs to be more transparent (and as a result, hopefully, more honest). Customers need to be able to log on and monitor the status of their order from the comfort of their computer. Until that happens, the ordering process will continue to be "gamed" by Ford HQ like it seems to be doing at the moment. Ironically, if the goal is to maximize revenue (and thus shareholder value), Ford is playing the "game" very badly, at least from where I am sitting.
Maybe it's my 800+ credit rating that is making them shy away from doing business with me? Or is it because I pay all my bills, including credit cards, in full, on time each month for the past 30 years? I must be doing something wrong, but whatever it is, it's a complete mystery to me. GM had no issues accepting and rapidly fulfilling my four custom orders from the local Saturn dealer between 1991-1999. I had similar good experiences with custom orders from Chrysler and AMC/Renault back in the 1980's.
I could understand if I was the last person to order, but I ordered on day five of the ordering window, which opened April 17. Scheduling supposedly began May 15 and production supposedly began June 23. That neither of our orders has even been scheduled should be a badge of shame for Ford, but I'm grounded enough to know that won't be the case.
My dealer got the color 2009 Ford Escape brochures and as I pour through it while waiting for my FEH Limited to be scheduled, I read near the back under "Choose your options" that you are correct: Voice-activated Navigation System with neaarly 10-gigabyte hard drive, single-disc Audiophile Sound System ....(Available on Limited, Hybrid and Hybrid Limited)
Compare the above with this, located on the same page of the brochure: Audiophile Sound System with 6-disc in-dash CD changer, MP3 capability...(Available on XLT and Limited)
The key to remember is this: Limited is not the same as Hybrid Limited.
Congrats. Please let us know how it shakes out. Our dealer here in Sonoma County CA still expects ours next week. I will keep everyone posted. It sounds however that the West Coast shipments have been delayed a bit. My original delivery date was 7/10. That's OK with me since I still have my 2005 Limited on Craigs List.
Regards,
Wondering where you purchased your new vehicle. Maybe it will help us all know how close they are to the rest of us.
What features do you particularly enjoy?
Waiting impatiently for my new wheels! :mad:
We bought ours at Longmont Ford in Longmont Colorado. It is about 20 miles north of Denver, as I posted before they told me they had an allocation of 5 hybrids per month. I'm sorry to everyone out there that ordered so long ago,and have to wait SO long, but it was relatively easy for me to get it, which was good cause we just blew the engine in our dodge a few weeks ago. I can't wait till everyone has theirs. I have been blown away by it for several days.
Everything seems relatively easy to use, the manual is easy to read. The last new vehicle I bought was 7 years ago and I have never had anything that was loaded before. But I think it is well designed. You can turn off the things that I call annoying like the seat belt chime, the auto locks, and the auto headlamps. The moon roof can open or tilt. The FEH limited (what we have) does not come with the 6 speed auto tranny. I love the nav/sync system. The ambient lighting gives you like 5 color choices that you can turn on if you want. It is dim but lights up things nicely if it's really dark. One of the coolest things is the HEV screen which shows your mileage and where to power is coming from. It also tells you how many miles an empty tank. I could go on all day probably. Ford did a great job on this vehicle in my opnion. Hope you guys get yours soon, seems like a truck is probably headed west from here.
Just an update. I received a call from our Ford dealer here in Sonoma County (CA.)
He just received an update on delivery FEH - Limited - No Nav but the Sirius Sat radio.) It's due in this coming Saturday 7/26. He confirmed that the delay was due to the rail car delay because of the flooding. Since they have to install the Step Bars (because Ford missed this on the order) we will probably pick up Sunday or Monday.
Regards,
Here's an example:
Pictures of Crater Lake, OR
When the page displays, find and click on the Slide Show link. Then use the View Full Screen link to make the pictures more visible.
Just click on My CarSpace, and you'll see..
Edmunds Price Checker
Edmunds Lease Calculator
Did you get a good deal? Be sure to come back and share!
Edmunds Moderator
I only wish this web site had sound as well as emoticons so I could insert a Homer Simpson Doh! sound into this post.
Thanks for catching my error.
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AZM2zRu4cuGL8g
Thanks for the upload tips!